Sen. Tim Scott, the only African-American Republican in the Senate, has a blunt message for his party's leaders: When it comes to picking judicial nominees and examining their records on race, you can do better.

The Senate approved President Donald Trump's nominee to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday, ending a six-month, highly partisan battle over the fate of the powerful consumer watchdog agency.

President Trump is fortunate to have U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham poised to take over the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He will need Sen. Graham at his back if House Democrats now armed with subpoena power unleash a series of efforts to bring down his presidency.

The head of the state's college regulator threatened to sue South Carolina's most powerful politician for "false, misleading and slanderous" accusations in asking for his resignation last week after granting a large unauthorized pay raise to a top employee.